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Lao PDR

Country Factsheet: Lao PDR - Migration, Environment and Climate Change (MECC) Key Risks, Policies and Data Sources

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Lao People’s Democratic Republic is highly exposed to climate and disaster risk. Droughts, floods and storms are the most prevalent hazards and have significant impact due to widespread dependence on climate-sensitive natural resources with the agricultural sector a critical part of the economy – representing about 58 per cent of employment (World Bank, n.d.). This is further exacerbated by poverty, malnourishment, and high exposure of poor and marginalized communities, further raising their levels of vulnerability and undermining their existing coping mechanisms (World Bank and ADB, 2021). Since data became available in 2008, over 247,000 new internal displacements linked to disasters have been recorded (Figure 1), with 2019 recording a peak in displacements when tropical depressions Podul and Kajiki travelled through the Greater Mekong Region, causing widespread flooding and displacing over 103,000 people in Lao People’s Democratic Republic.